Dr. Ashraf Ramelah

About Dr. Ashraf Ramelah

Dr. Ashraf Ramelah is the founder and president of Voice of the Copts, a human rights nonprofit organization 501 (c) (3). The organization has offices in Italy and the United States. Dr. Ramelah is dedicated to the Coptic cause and believes that his life’s mission is to speak up for the oppressed Copts who cannot speak up for themselves. When he is not meeting with political figures and policy makers, Dr. Ramelah spends his time travelling throughout the country giving talks about the Coptic issue and explaining to the West the oppression against the Copts in Egypt. Dr. Ramelah was invited to address the European Parliament (2010) and to be the keynote speaker in the Italian Parliament (2011) on the issue of Coptic persecution in Egypt. He has done various interviews with Italian newspapers and appears frequently in the Italian and Arab Media. Dr. Ramelah is a featured author at Arutz Sheva, American Thinker, Family Security Matters.com, Canada Free Press and others. Dr. Ramelah is well known to the Egyptian government due to his advocacy for the Egyptian Copts as well as for Voice of the Copts’ lawsuit against them on behalf of Muslim convert to Christianity Mr. Hegazy and his family in 2009-2010. Ashraf Ramelah also appears as an entry in the Coptic History Encyclopedia (http://www.coptichistory.org/new_page_5260.htm). Dr. Ramelah, himself a Copt, was born in Cairo, Egypt. At the age of 17, he travelled to Italy to study architecture. He graduated with a doctorate in architecture from La Sapienza – Universita’ Degli Studi di Roma,Italy. His special study is restoration of old monuments and history of architecture. His career as an architect took him to work and live in Italy, Saudi Arabia, Gabon and the USA. His personal interests are Egyptology and Coptic history in the period after the Arab invasion of Egypt in 651 AD. Voice of the Copts is dedicated to bringing fair, correct and balanced information to the entire world regarding Copts and Christians in countries with an Arab-Muslim majority.

Bloody protests in Egypt denounced as Islamists hold pro-Mursi rally

By | 2013-02-16T18:32:52-04:00 February 16th, 2013|News|

A number of Islamist parties in Egypt declared their participation in a planned “Together Against Violence” rally in Cairo, among them is the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.   Thousands of supporters of Islamist President Mohammed Mursi took to the street on Friday to denounce violence after weeks of bloody protests between police and anti-Mursi protesters.   

Top Egypt archaeologist sees hope for future in past

By | 2013-02-16T01:44:13-04:00 February 16th, 2013|Archeology and History|

The keeper of Egypt’s archaeological treasures sees hope for the nation’s future in its pharaonic past.   Mohammed Ibrahim, head of the antiquities ministry, likens Egypt’s turbulent emergence from autocracy to the periods of decline that afflicted the nation on the Nile between the fall and rise of its three ancient kingdoms.   “We have

Egypt Approves New Controversial Protest Law

By | 2013-02-16T01:20:34-04:00 February 16th, 2013|News|

Egypt's cabinet on Wednesday approved a new draft law regulating public demonstrations that was swiftly slammed by rights groups as restrictive, AFP reports.   The law, which needs the ratification of the upper house of parliament, was created "to ensure the peaceful nature of demonstrations," Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki told reporters.   The law aims

France to Expel Radical Islamist Imams ‘In Coming Days’

By | 2013-02-14T03:19:14-04:00 February 14th, 2013|News|

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls announced Sunday that the French government will be taking steps in the coming days to deport several radical Muslim clerics from the country in an effort to counter the rising tide of radical Islam and prevalent threat of “global jihadism.”   "Many radical preachers of foreign origin will be deported

Thousands Protest Egypt’s Morsi 2 Years Post-Mubarak

By | 2013-02-13T14:35:34-04:00 February 13th, 2013|News|

Thousands demonstrated against Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi and his political backers, the country's ruling Muslim Brotherhood, on the second anniversary of former President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster from power.   Protesters in planned anti-government marches set out Monday evening from around the Egyptian capital of Cairo, heading towards Tahrir Square, the birthplace of the January 25

Israeli Warplanes Soar Through Lebanese Skies

By | 2013-02-13T14:03:31-04:00 February 13th, 2013|Reports|

Four Israeli war planes were seen flying in the skies of Lebanon on Tuesday, according to that country’s official news agency. Israel Air Force aircraft were reportedly seen flying in the afternoon sometime between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm local time, sources said late in the day.   By Wednesday, the reports became an official

Egyptians turn to black market for hard currency

By | 2013-02-11T14:33:36-04:00 February 11th, 2013|News|

A run on Egypt’s pound has left foreign currency in short supply and driven some dealers into the streets in search of people with U.S. dollars to sell, spawning a new black market.   The currency’s decline was triggered by a political uprising that swept Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011 and it has officially

Libya Christians fear rise of Islamic extremism

By | 2013-02-11T14:10:05-04:00 February 11th, 2013|Islam|

“Not a day goes by without tombs being vandalized,” says Dalmasso Bruno, caretaker of the Italian cemetery in the Libyan capital where Christians fear rising Muslim extremism.   “Human bones have been taken out of their tomb and scattered across the cemetery” in central Tripoli, he said. “The Libyan authorities came and took pictures. They

Iranians on revolution day chant ‘death to America’

By | 2013-02-10T15:00:40-04:00 February 10th, 2013|News|

Hundreds of thousands of people marched on Sunday in Tehran and other cities chanting “Death to America” as Iran marked the 34th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that ousted the U.S.-backed shah.    In the capital, crowds waving Iranian flags and portraits of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini walked toward the landmark Azadi (Freedom) Square,

Egypt denies fire broke out at Karnak temple

By | 2013-02-10T13:54:31-04:00 February 10th, 2013|News|

Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities Mohammed Ibrahim denied earlier media reports that a fire broke out inside the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, asserting that what happened was a limited fire in some plants in the open ground outside the temple.    Minister Ibrahim added that the fire was extinguished immediately and that about 60 tourists